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Tuesday, August 19, 2014

The Lady

via email (I'm posting the pictures extra large!!):

Hello:

I am a recent fan of Betty Neels and your blog!

While at a thrift store recently I came across something I thought you might be interested in--an old copy of the magazine "The Lady", where so many of our later heroines looked for jobs, placed ads in a desperate attempt to get away from a RDD, etc.

It is an older copy of the magazine, from May of 1963, so it wouldn't have been one used by our Aramintas, looking for that caretaker/housekeeper job that just might end in marriage to a rich doctor, but I bet it is pretty similar to the magazines of later years.

I have attached four pictures from the magazine, including the cover, an advertisement page, a sample of job ads, and some listings for student nurse positions.

I hope they are as interesting to you as they were to me.

Betty Melissa

Dear Betty Melissa,

The ads here are so awesome!

I definitely need a "relaxator" and I'm dying to know if "Miss Smallwood's Society" is legit.

I had to google the royal wedding referred to on the cover, and here's a snippet from Wikipedia:

As a male-line granddaughter of the British monarch, she was styled as a British princess with the prefix Her Royal Highness. At the time of her birth, she was sixth in the line of succession to the British throne...

... On 24 April 1963, she married the HonAngus James Bruce Ogilvy(1928–2004), the second son of the12th Earl of Airlieand Lady Alexandra Coke, atWestminster Abbey.The wedding ceremony was attended by the Royal Familyand was broadcast worldwide on television, watched by an estimated 200 million people.

Ogilvy declined the Queen's offer of an earldom upon marriage.This meant that any children they might have would carry no titles at all.

Congratulations on your fabulous find, and thank you so much for sharing it with us!

12 comments:

Susie's Perfect Dry Cleaner! LOL. I found a book on stain removal at my local used book store and it introduced me to the "Fels-Naptha bar. Greatest laundry aid EVER, maybe even better than Mrs. Stewarts bluing.

Thank you, Betty Melissa! The Lady — what a great find! So many job offers for nurses/matrons or domestic help. Bettys, did you notice? Some of the jobs come with cottages to live in! Do you think there will be room for portly Charles? Other offers include bed/sitting-rooms, of course, or own room, TV! "NANNY / MOTHER'S HELP required [...] Ample daily help in labour-saving house."

Betty Barbara here--Thank you Betty Melissa! And thank you Betty Debbie for saving me a trip to Wikipedia re: the royal wedding.I was especially amused by the ad for Bile Beans--nothing like truth in advertising!@Betty Anonymous--you are right! I so thought of 'Roses Have Thorns and dear portly Charles while reading the employment opportunity columns!

Glad to see others enjoyed these pages from The Lady. Ever since I bought this I've been pouring over the ads--it wouldn't surprise me if Betty Neels got some ideas from the "plots" presented in the ads!

I was intrigued by Betty Debbie's question about Miss Smallwood's Society and if it was legit. It not only was legit, but is still around!

http://www.salrc.org.uk/

The "some examples of our help" page is quite sad. But the stories of the ladies could be those of our Betty Neels' heroines if they hadn't met their rich doctor. The story of Miss S could be any of our Araminta's. I'm glad she did get some assistance.